


Once Upon a Time

by babygyrl09



Category: Death Note
Genre: Gen, Whammy era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 10:26:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1158544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babygyrl09/pseuds/babygyrl09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Matt is asked to tell his story, he does. In spades. Whammy era story, Matt, Mello, and Near friendship, no pairings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Prologue

This is not a nice story.  This isn’t a fairy tale that starts with “Once upon a time” and ends in “Happily ever after.”  There are no knights in shining armor and the damsels can take care of themselves just fine.  This is a story of life, of love, and of humanity.  This is a tale of three boys who, despite all odds and against all obstacles, retained their bond to each other, no matter what else they lost.  This is the story of a boy becoming a monster to save the world from a worse monster.  This is the story of a boy sacrificing his humanity to save the world.  And this is the story of a boy trying to balance between justice and vengeance, light and dark, good and evil.  This is our story.


	2. Chapter 1

Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away… Ha.  I told you this wasn’t that kind of story.  Shit, I don’t even know where the beginning is, and whatever the end is, when it comes, it won’t be happy.  Our story begins with me.  I guess the true beginning would be before Whammy’s.  But there was no before Whammy’s for me.  Not that I remember, anyway.  I mean, I vaguely remember a woman humming a lullaby – my mother, I think – but nothing definitive.  I grew up in Whammy’s, ever since I can remember.  I can remember L, as he didn’t leave until I was 4, and A and B after him, and I’m the only Second Generation Whammy kid still around who was around then.  I remember escaping from the nursery where they put me and going into the library where the first three Successors were.  I remember B being creepy as hell even then, and A being detached.  L, though, L was different then.  L would pick me up and put me on his lap and read to me as he studied.  I think he just liked to hear the sound of his own voice though.  I picked up more than he probably expected me too, and before he left I think I was the closest thing he had to a friend.

Whammy was around a lot more, back then, but he was still absent quite a bit with his work as an inventor.  He was also traveling a lot and always dropping kids off here.  I guess, then that we weren’t strictly second generation, but that’s how we thought of ourselves: as the second generation, the possible heirs to L’s title as greatest detective.  That was the goal even for the first generation, but there was no title to take up, just to be “the best”.  There were three Successors in the First Generation, A who broke under the pressure and killed himself, B who broke under the pressure and tried to kill everyone else, and L who became socially detached and unable to relate to people on a personal level.  The L I knew in the House liked his privacy, but he wasn’t as detached as he became after he left to take up the mantle of “The Great Detective L.” 

But this isn’t the First Generation’s story, this is our story.  And so the story really starts when Near came to the House.  I was five, and had been out of the nursery and in a room of my own for about a year at that point.  I had just woken up and was getting dressed to go down to breakfast when there was a knock at my door.

I wasn’t a punk who had something to prove to the world yet, so I simply answered “Come in.”

The door opened, and Whammy stood in the doorway, respecting my space.  I didn’t have a problem with touch like some of the kids did, but I did like my space.  I liked to be able to escape if I had to.  I’m not sure if that was left over from before or if it had been learned here, but it was there.  Saved my life a couple times, later on though, so I’m not complaining.  I guess growing up in an orphanage where we were trained to become detectives, assassins, secret government agents and the like, a healthy drop of paranoia isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Good morning, Matt.  How did you sleep?”  The grandfatherly man asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders.  “Not well.  I woke up at about two because someone was yelling.  How was your flight, sir?”  I asked respectfully.  Say what you want about the place, Whammy’s taught you manners.  Just because Mello and B decided not to use them, doesn’t mean they didn’t have manners.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Matt.  I’m afraid that that was my fault.  I brought a new boy to the house and he hasn’t adjusted well to the changing situation.”  Whammy looked uneasy then, as if I wasn’t going to like what he had to say next.  “The new boy is just your age, actually, and I wonder if you would mind helping him get adjusted?”

I thought about that.  Helping him get adjusted?  What would that mean?  Talking to him and being his friend?  I could do that.  But then I remembered something that L had told me once.  “Never trust that you know everything about a situation.  Make sure that before you agree to something you know exactly what you are going into.”  So I asked him, “What exactly do you want me to do to help him adjust, sir?”

Yep, he definitely looked nervous now.  “I was hoping that you could share your room with him.  He came from a large family with four older sisters and two brothers and I don’t think he’s used to being alone.  We want to make his transition as smooth as possible.”

I felt my mouth open in astonishment.  That’s what he was worried about?  That I wouldn’t want to share my room?  Well, thinking about how B threw a fit when Roger, Whammy’s second-in-command, tried to put a new boy in his room, it made sense to approach this with caution.  “That’s fine, sir.  I was actually a little lonely by myself,” I admitted, with a little reluctance (another thing L had said, don’t show weakness unless you have to), “but with only the girls close in age, I understood that I got my own room.”  I paused, actually thinking about what having a roommate meant.  “Can he look after himself?  You know how I like everything neat.”

“I don’t know, Matt.  I only just met him yesterday.  Here’s what we’ll do.  Let’s try this out for a week or so, and if it doesn’t work out, then we’ll put him in the Green Room down the hall.  All right?”

I let my mind free as I thought about that.  A probation period to see if we could handle rooming together?  That sounded fine.  “That sounds fine, sir,” I voiced my opinion.  I knew if it didn’t work out, staff wouldn’t make us room together, but I was willing to give it a shot.  “When do I get to meet my roommate?”

Whammy sighed, and I was struck by how old he looked.  I mean, I knew he was old, but I never saw him as old until then.  “He should be here when you return from breakfast.”  I nodded and went down to breakfast.


	3. Chapter 2

When I came back from breakfast, I almost didn’t recognize my room.  There was another bed along the exterior wall and another bookshelf, desk, and set of drawers.  In short, the furniture had been duplicated and set up to mirror mine.  That wasn’t what shook me though.  What stopped me in the doorway was the fact that the room was trashed.  The bed, _my bed_ , I corrected mentally, which I had made before breakfast, was bare, with the blankets and sheets on the floor in a heap.  The books on my bookshelf had been pulled onto the floor, and I saw some stray pages that had been torn out fluttering in the breeze that the open window brought in.  There was also a puddle near the open window, I guess it had rained while I was at breakfast.  The drawers that held my clothes were open with clothes hanging out and on the floor.  My desk was clear since I was still young enough that I was working out of workbooks that were kept in the classrooms, but the pens had been uncapped and lay on the desk haphazardly.  In stark contrast, the other side of the room was completely clean, with a boy sitting on the bed staring at me.  No, glaring at me.  Like I was somehow to blame for the mess.

After about two minutes of standing dumbfounded in the doorway, I shook myself back to reality and stepped through the threshold.  I ignored the other boy and started cleaning up.  As I was putting my clothes back in the drawers, I decided that it was time to introduce myself. 

“Welcome.  I guess you’re my new roommate?  I’m Matt.”  I paused and then decided something else needed to be addressed.  “And I like to keep my stuff clean.  If you want to throw a fit, then throw around your stuff.  But all my stuff is nice and neat and I would like to keep it that way.”

I heard the boy moving and I wondered what he was doing.  “They called me Near.  My name isn’t Near.  It’s Nate.  Nate River.  I won’t answer to Near, I won’t.”  His voice rose until he was almost shouting and my hands came up involuntarily to protect my sensitive eardrums.

“You will if they’ve decided that’s who you are,” I told him.  I turned back to see him still on the bed, but risen to a crouch that was at once protecting his tender stomach and ready to flee if need be and his head was burrowed in his arms.  My mind registered this, and at a later time decided that he had probably been abused before coming here.  At the time, I just noticed he was throwing a fit like so many do when they first arrive.  “It’s to help you adjust to life here.  Your old name stays with your old life.  Your alias is how you’ll be referred to here, and the staff will not call you by your old name.  They just won’t.  And if you don’t answer to Near, then you’ll be disciplined for impertinence.”

The boy, Near, raised his head to look at me with watery eyes.  “I wanna go home.”  He stated.  “I wanna have Momma brush my hair and hear Daisy and Brianne to sing to me.  I wanna hear Papa read bedtime stories and check under the bed for monsters.  I want my life back.”  Despite the content of his short monologue, his speech was steady and his eyes stayed on mine, tears refusing to fall.

I sighed.  That all sounded really good.  Someone to brush your hair out until it felt fine as silk; to have your sisters sing, probably tone deaf, but still filled with love; to actually believe the monsters under the bed were scarier than the ones who walk among us.  I don’t know if I ever had that innocence.  My bedtime stories were either Bible verses or watered down versions of real cases.  And having my hair brushed?  Forget it.  Whammy’s may be one of the better orphanages, but from the time you walk through the door, you leave your childhood behind.  We are trained to be competent, to be able to function, to thrive without human contact, without connections that most people take for granted.

“You can’t,” I said, deciding to be blunt, not caring about hurting the precious new boy’s feelings.  “I don’t know what your story is, but that chapter’s done.  And you’ll be doing your family a favor by forgetting them.  Crying over them won’t help them wherever they are, and you’ll just be giving yourself a handicap in the time spent grieving.”

Looking back, I was a bit harsh and cynical for a child who wouldn’t even be in school had I had a normal family and life, and I think I might have started building Near that emotional prison that he was trapped in in later years.  But I was never good at hiding my emotions.  Not like others.

He glared at me, and then the tears that had been threatening to fall spilled over.  He opened his mouth, and the shrillest, loudest, God-awful scream that I had ever heard came out.  “NO!  YOU CAN’T MAKE ME FORGET!  I WANT MY MOMMY!  I WANT MY DADDY!  I WANNA GO HOME!!!”  Suddenly, he was moving, faster than I thought possible, and he was off the bed and making for the window.  I stayed still, since he was new there should be staff nearby in case something like this happened.

Exactly as I thought, a man in a white uniform came into the room and grabbed Near and hauled him onto the bed.  Another nurse came in with a syringe full of some medicine or another.  The first man held Near down while the one with the syringe buried it in Near’s arm.  Immediately after the medicine was emptied into Near’s arm, he went limp, as if all the fight went out of him.  He was still conscious, but his eyes were unfocused and he seemed content to just lay on the bed.

The nurse with the needle turned back to me, and I saw that it was Nurse Alice, one of the staff assigned to the new kids.  “Matt, it looks like Near is suffering from an anxiety attack.  Do you know what triggered this?”

I shook my head.  If I said anything, then I would get in trouble for provoking the kid.

“Matt,” Nurse Alice said gently, “Near’s new and if you know anything about what set him off, that would help us out.  Do you know what could have triggered his episode?”

I looked down at the floor.  “He said that he missed his family, and I told him that he should forget about them.  That might have had something to do with it.  It’s not my fault he’s such a whiny brat.  He trashed my stuff!”  I added petulantly.  “I don’t think he belongs here.  I want my room back.”  I folded my arms in what I thought was an intimidating gesture, after all, I’d seen B send staff running with no more effort, but in all seriousness, simply looked like I was pouting.

“Matt, please, you agreed to try this for a week.  It hasn’t even been an hour, and already you want to renege on your promise?”  I heard Whammy say from the hall.

Once again, I found the two square feet directly beneath me fascinating.  “I don’t want to, he’s making me.  He’ll probably have nightmares and wake me up in the middle of the night.  And he’ll run away and I’ll get in trouble for it, and he wrecked my room.  I don’t like him.” With that pronouncement, I turned and walked out of the room.


	4. Chapter 3

I had walked out of my room, _our_ room, I guess now, and was navigating the halls of the orphanage without really seeing anything.  Finally, I found myself in the library.  The library was arranged in such a way that the bookshelves divided the room into smaller study areas, and the students in the library never took any notice of anyone else.  The library was a study space, a resource area that is to be used as such.  There are play rooms, and the common areas with TVs and such, but the library always has been, and most likely always will be, a quiet study space.  Seriously, the house could be on fire, and no one would notice the alarm as more than an annoyance. 

I went to the back of the library and pulled random books off of the shelves and built a little “fortress of solitude” around myself.  If another student saw me, he (or she) would only see a studious kid.  I would have peace to think.  Normally, my room would suffice, but _that_ was now occupied by an interloper, and my nice solitude would now be at a premium.  I spent most of the day there, throwing my temper tantrum (though I wouldn’t call it that), but I did take some time to look through some of the books scattered around me, which is how L found me later in the evening.

“Matt missed lunch and dinner today.”

I looked up from the book I was skimming to see L peering at me.  “Not hungry,” I muttered, and raised the book to my face again.

“Matt is a growing boy,” L remarked, taking hold of the book and lowering it so he could look at me, “who needs to eat regular meals.”

“You don’t,” I muttered petulantly.  “L is a growing boy who also needs a balanced diet,” I said, mimicking L’s manner of speaking.

“L takes vitamin supplements to meet the necessary dietary requirements,” L retorted, falling into the familiar pattern of defending his eating habits.  L knew that I knew full well that as he didn’t live at the House anymore, he didn’t have to follow the dietary requirements.  In order to keep him healthy, however, L had to constantly take vitamin supplements to make up for the fact that he ate nothing but sugar.  “Why is Matt hiding in the library?” he asked, pulling the conversation back to the original tread.

I glared at him behind the book.  I had since spent my anger, but my pride wouldn’t let me go slinking back to the room.  “Why do you care?” I asked.  “Aren’t you enamored with the new boy, too?  Why do you care about me?”

“Matt thinks that Near’s arrival means that Matt is no longer important.”  I couldn’t tell if the statement was a question or not, delivered in L’s monotone.

“No.” My refusal was immediate.  “It’s not that… I don’t think.”  I looked down at the book in my lap, as if it held all the answers in the world.  “He wrecked my room.”

“Near will not replace Matt,” L said.  “Near can make his own place at Whammy’s without displacing Matt.  Matt does not have to fear Near replacing him.  Matt should realize that all of the new children are monitored until they show that they are comfortable here.”

“I know!” I exclaimed. “But he stole my room.  And he wrecked my stuff.  I don’t want to be with someone who can’t respect my stuff.”

“Matt has been at Whammy’s longer than most people,” L said.  “Matt can help Near get adjusted to his new life.”

“That’s what Whammy said.  He said that he hoped I would help him adjust.  But I can’t help him if he doesn’t want to.  And I think this morning showed that he doesn’t want to.”  I closed the book still on my lap and set it aside, putting aside the last barrier between L and I.  “He wrecked my room.  Just my side.  My bed, my books, my clothes.  _His_ side of the room was pristine, but all of my stuff was thrown around deliberately.  He doesn’t want to be here as much as I don’t want him here.”

“Matt must try to understand Near’s side of it.  Near is in a new place with nothing familiar to cling to.  Near is acting out, trying to test the boundaries and rules of this new place.  Matt must show Near what is expected of him and be a role model for Near.”

“You think I’m being childish,” I stated.  That was the only reason that L would talk down to me.

“Matt _is_ a child,” L said in a calm voice.

“Fine.”  I stood up and started putting the books back on the shelves I had removed them from.  “I’ll give this thing another chance.”

“That is a wise decision.”

L helped me put the books back on the shelves and walked me back to my room.  Near was still laying on the bed, but his body position suggested that he was simply sleeping rather than in a drug induced state of semi- or unconsciousness.

“Is Matt truly not hungry or is Matt simply being childish?” L asked me.

Now that he mentioned it, I did feel kind of hungry.  “I could eat,” I admitted.

“I will see if I can get something from the kitchen to make up for Matt’s missed meal,” he said, and left.

When L had left, I went to work putting the room to rights.  I was in the middle of putting my clothes back in the drawers when Near had his fit, so I finished that, and then started working on the books.  I noticed there were loose pages on the floor, so I flipped through every book and the ones with pages missing went off to the side, but the ones that didn’t got put back on the shelf.  I checked to see if the pens that had been uncapped still worked, and made my bed.

While I was fixing the damage that Near had done, L had come in and put a plate of food on my desk.  After I was done, I sat on my bed and started eating. 

While I was eating, Near woke up.  He looked at me, and at the food.  I remembered what L said about Near not being comfortable here, and said, “Are you hungry?  I can’t eat all of this myself.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie.  L had given me too much food, and he expected me to eat all of it.  Well, Near hadn’t had anything to eat all day either, so he must be hungry as well.

He nodded, and I took the plate over to his bed. 

“Sorry, there’s only one plate and one set of silverware.  You can have the rest, though,” I told him.

While he was eating, I decided that another apology was in order.  “I’m sorry about snapping at you earlier.” When he turned around and looked at me, I continued, “I’m sorry about saying all that stuff to you. You don’t have to forget everything.  You’re probably going to have a couple of days to get settled, and I’m supposed to be helping you adjust, not antagonizing you.  Here, let’s start over.”  I held out my hand to him.  “I’m Matt, and I’m your roommate.  If you have any questions, ask me, and I’ll help you out.  If I don’t know, then I’ll know who would know.”

By the end of my impromptu speech, Near had finished eating and was staring at me again.  I really wish he wouldn’t do that, it really freaks me out.  There was a moment of silence before he spoke.

“I’m sorry.”  His voice was soft and hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure about what he was saying.  “I’m sorry about reacting that way.  I shouldn’t have yelled at you.  I shouldn’t have tried to run away.  Am I in trouble?” He asked.

I shook my head.  “Nah, they understand that you need time to get settled in.  Just…” I hesitated, before bringing up what happened before, “don’t try to jump out the window.  We’re on the second story, and you might hurt yourself.  They’re pretty lenient with the new kids, but one thing that’s absolutely off-limits is self-harm.  They’re really strict about not hurting yourself.”

“What’s lenient mean?” He asked.

“It means that they’ll let you off easy if you break any rules this first week or so.  After that, they expect you to know the rules, and if you don’t, well,” I shrugged, “ignorance of the rules is no excuse for breaking them.”


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a time skip here, wanted to introduce Mello to our boys.

After that first, rocky start, Near and I got along pretty well.  I explained the rules to him, and why we aren’t allowed to go by our original names.  Other than that first day when he trashed the room, Near kept his stuff organized and neat, much like how I keep my stuff.  Because he had come from a relatively normal family, before he came to Whammy’s, Near hadn’t even started school, so he had to be taught to read and write, but he was quick to pick everything up.  Within two months of starting lessons, Near had floated to the top of our age group’s ranks, and within a year, he had been moved up to the next age group.  I moved up to keep up with him about three months after that.

I had never gotten used to sleeping alone, because I had only had my own room for a little while before Near had moved in with me, and Near had never been alone, so about a week after Near got settled, we asked the staff if they could push the beds together.  It cut down on nightmares on Near’s end, and I was more comfortable sleeping with someone next to me.  At night, we traded stories about our childhoods: Near told me about his family, and I, in turn, told him about my lack thereof.

Just when I had gotten used to Near and I sharing a room, everything changed.

 

“Could I speak with Matt out in the hall for a moment?” Roger stood in the doorway of the classroom and addressed the teacher, a young woman named Miss Shea.

She nodded at me, and said, “Matt, come back in and get back to work when Mr. Ruvie is done with you.”

I got up and followed Roger out into the hall.  “What can I do for you, sir?”

“How are you doing, Matt?”  He asked.

“I’m fine, but you wouldn’t drag me out of lessons to ask me about my well-being.”

“How is your living situation with Near working out?”  He asked.  “I know the two of you didn’t get along right away.”

“We’re fine, sir.  We both needed some time to get used to each other, I guess.”  _I wish Roger would just tell me what he wants,_ I thought, _it’s been months since Near and I have had any trouble._

“We have another child who is having trouble adjusting.  Would you be willing to be Mello’s roommate, just until he gets comfortable?”  Roger’s body language was tense, as if he expected me to (respond negatively/violently).

 _And the truth comes out._   “You want me to be his roommate?” I asked.  “But I’m already Near’s roommate!”

“Near seems to be doing fine, my boy.  I’m sure he will do fine by himself,” Roger said.

“Near still has nightmares sometimes.  I don’t think he would react well to sleeping alone.”  That was the understatement of the year.  More than half the time Near ended up crawling into bed with me and sleeping with me.  “And I don’t think you can put another bed in our room.”

“We are all thankful for your help with Near and the other children.  I think that it would be good for Mello if you did the same for him.”

“Can I talk to Near about this?  It will affect him too, after all.”

Roger nodded.  “Mello’s staying in the interim wing for now, but I would like to have him settled in a room in a day or so.”

I nodded and said, “I’ll talk to Near tonight and we’ll come talk to you tomorrow morning, if that’s ok with you.”

He nodded again.  “Get back to class.”

I went back into the classroom and sat down in my chair.

 _What did I miss?_ I wrote on a piece of paper which I then passed to Near sitting next to me.

 _Long division._ He wrote back.  _What did Roger want to talk to you about?_

 _Tell you later.  After class._  

The rest of the class passed normally, and we were dismissed for lunch.  As I stood up to leave, Near touched my arm.  He didn’t grab me, but Near initiating any kind of contact was rare.

“What did Roger want to talk to Matt about?”

“I’ll tell you later,” I told him.  “After classes are over for the day.”

He nodded and slipped his hand into mine and we went into the cafeteria.  Near was being very affectionate today, that wasn’t a good sign.  He was only affectionate when he was feeling insecure.

After lunch, we had an hour of independent study… or in our case, an hour of quiet free time.  Then we had afternoon classes for another two hours before being dismissed from classes for the day.  We got two hours of free time before dinner, and that was when I decided to tell Near about Mello.

I led Near to our room and closed the door.

He stood just inside the doorway looking at me strangely.   “Now will Matt tell me what Roger said?  And why Matt is being so secretive?”

I glared at the floor.  “Roger wants to move you into a single room and put the new boy in here with me.”

There wasn’t anything we could do about it; if Roger wanted to move us around, then he could.  It was just courtesy that had him talking to us beforehand about it.

“I would be in a single room?” Near asked, his voice quavering.  “By myself?”

“I think that if we say we really don’t want to, he’ll let us stay together,” I said hesitantly.

Near was silent for a minute before saying, “No, I guess I can do it.”  Another pause, and then he said, “Do you think we should tell Roger now or tomorrow?”

“Well,” I started, thinking out loud, “if we tell him tonight, then they might decide to change things around during dinner.  But if we wait, then we’ll have one more night before everything changes.”

So we had that one last night together.  GOD, that sounds like bad dialogue from a cheesy romance movie.  That night, we didn’t even try to sleep in separate beds, Near simply grabbed his teddy and crawled into bed with me.  It’s probably due to the fact that I went from sleeping in the nursery with the other babies to sharing a room with Near almost immediately, but I always sleep better when someone else is in the room with me.  I know full well that I would not be able to sleep in a single room.

The next day, Near woke me up early and we went to Roger’s office.  After he made that decision, Near wanted it to be done and over with. 

As we were walking, Near asked more for more information, even though I had told him everything that Roger told me.

“What does Matt know about the new boy?” He asked.

“Just what I told you,” I said.  “Roger wants me to be his roommate.  And that he is staying in the interim wing, but he’s having trouble adjusting.  Roger says I could help him like I helped you and the others.”

“Roger never wanted to move any of the others in with Matt,” Near remarked casually.  “Except Near.  What is different about this new boy that Roger thinks Matt needs to give him special attention?”

 _Hmm,_ Ithought _, this seems familiar.  But now the shoe’s on the other foot. That’s an odd phrase, I wonder where it came from… focus!_ I told myself sternly.  _Near thinks you’ll abandon him for this Mello kid._

“Don’t know.”  I shrugged.  There was an awkward silence until I spoke again.  “Hey!” I exclaimed.  “This won’t change anything, right?  I mean, you’ll still help me with classes, right?  And you’ll always be my brother.”  _There.  Maybe that will reassure him._

By then, we had arrived at Roger’s office and were standing in front of the door, finishing our conversation before confronting the unknown.

Near stared at me, but didn’t answer, instead electing to knock on the door.

“Come in,” we heard from the other side, and Near pushed open the door, leaving me to follow him inside.

When Near stepped out of my line of sight, I saw that we were not alone in the office.  Roger was sitting at his desk facing us, and sitting in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk, facing away from us, was a short-haired blonde girl.  She looked like she was about our age, maybe a little older, and she must be new, because I didn’t recognize her.

“Matt, Near, thank you for coming to see me so promptly this morning,” Roger said, gesturing for us to sit down in the other two chairs.  “I’d like you to meet the newest member of Whammy House, Mello.”

I sat down, and stared at the blonde.  This was Mello?  This was the one that Roger wanted me to share a room with?  He looked like a girl!  “Hey,” I said.  “Welcome.”

“Mello, meet Matt and Near.”  Roger gestured at each of us in turn.  “You will be sharing a room with Matt.”

“What?”  Mello exclaimed.  “You mean I have to share a room?  With him?”

 _Great,_ I thought, _he doesn’t want to be here either.  I just hope_ he _doesn’t trash my room._   “It’s not like I’m happy about this either, Princess,” I sneered.  I looked at Near to see that he had not stopped glaring at Mello.

“Boys,” Roger said, in the tone that said “Pay attention… or else.”  Near and I trained our eyes on him.  He waited until we were all three looking at him before continuing.  “Behave yourselves.  No fighting.”  This was mainly aimed at Mello and I because Near would never lower himself to fighting.  If he was angry at you, he would get back at you in other, more subtle ways.  “Matt, Near, I would appreciate it if you would show Mello around and help him learn the rules of the house.”

Near spoke for the first time since meeting Mello.  “Has he been tested?”

“Yes, Mello will be taking the same classes as the two of you, at least until the end of the month.”

“What happens at the end of the month?” Mello asked.

“Monthly tests,” I told him.  “At the end of the month, or rather, on the last Friday of the month, we take comprehensive tests and are placed in classes accordingly.”

“When you pass the basic classes, you can choose what classes you take,” Near added.

“Why don’t you boys go on to breakfast,” Roger said.  “And then you can show Mello where he’ll be staying from now on.”

“Where will I be moved to?” Near asked.

“You will be moved down the hall into room 213.”

“213?”  I said.  “That’s only like two rooms down.”  Near glanced at me and I gave him a grin.  Two rooms down wasn’t much at all.  It’s not like he was being moved to another hall.

“Are we dismissed?” Near asked, sliding off the chair and moving towards the door. I followed him, catching Mello’s eye and nodding at the opening door.

We walked down to the dining hall, Near staying a ways apart from Mello and me.  I took the time to talk to Mello.  “Breakfast is served from seven to eight-thirty every morning, lunch is eleven to one and dinner is six to seven-thirty.  You have class from nine to eleven, then a break for lunch, and independent study time until two, classes again from two to four.  Free time is until dinner and after dinner until lights out, which for us is at eight.  On the weekend, brunch is from nine to noon, but if you want breakfast earlier, you can go to the kitchens and make it.  The older kids are allowed to go into town, and if you are religious, there are services you can attend, either here or in town.  But if you go to a service in town, then an adult has to accompany you.  I guess they don’t trust us by ourselves.”  I paused, and then said, “I think that’s all you need to know.  Any questions about anything?”

Mello gestured at Near.  “Why does he hate me?”He asked.

“He doesn’t.  Not really.  He just doesn’t care enough about you to either like or hate you.” I paused, and actually thought about it for a minute.  “He hasn’t really gotten along with anyone other than me, and that’s only because we live in the same room.  Other than an annoyance that’s kicked him out of his room, he hasn’t thought about you at all.  Don’t worry about that, he treats everyone like that.”

“Well, he can’t do that!” Mello exclaimed.  “It’s rude.  You can’t just ignore someone like that.”

I shrugged.  “Near can.  And does.  He ignores everyone that he doesn’t absolutely have to interact with.”  I shrugged again.  “You’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t like him.”  Mello declared with adamant solemnity.  Little did I know that that pronouncement would follow us throughout our lives.


End file.
